Passing the Baton – Continuity in Congregational Leadership – Notes from UUA General Assembly 2015

We know that leadership transitions are inevitable, necessary, and healthy.
So why not plan for them up front?  

One of the workshops the Stewardship for Us team presented at General Assembly this year (in partnership with our colleagues from the Central East and Southern Regions) dealt with planning and carrying out good leadership transitions in congregations.

If you are thinking that this does not sound like a stewardship topic, think again – good leadership transitions (or the lack thereof) affect just about every aspect of congregational life, including stewardship.

Over years of working with congregations, nonprofits, governments, and in the private sector, we have frequently observed that leaders and organizations do not think about leadership transitions until its time to make such a change. Waiting until the last moment to plan and carry out a transition is a recipe for more excitement than is needed, can put the community through undue stress, and can put the incoming leader at a disadvantage at the start of their tenure. Fortunately, all this is pretty easy to avoid, with a different mindset and a few simple steps.

During our GA workshop, we  delved into three components: what is unique and what is transferrable in Unitarian Universalist leadership; what resources do we have at our disposal for leadership development; and what specific steps should we be taking to ensure smooth transitions when the time for a change in leadership comes.

We hope you were able to join us for this workshop. Passing the Baton – Continuity in Leadership. Whether you were there or not, you may find the slides for this workshop, along with samples of the flexible agenda/minutes form and a blank RASCI form, discussed in the workshop, here: 

GA 2015- Passing the Baton – Final Version   SAMPLE Meeting Agenda –    Blank Sample Meeting Minutes –   Blank RASCI Worksheet – Sample

If you are interested in a webinar or a workshop for your congregation or cluster, drop us a line at team@stewardshipforus.com and let’s see what we can do together.